Development and Integration of new Hydrometeorological Algorithms into the WSR-88D using the Common Operations and Development Environment (CODE)

The National Weather Service (NWS), through the NEXRAD Product Improvement Program, is sponsoring the development of the Common Operations and Development Environment (CODE). The objective is to shorten the development, integration and validation cycle for new algorithms and applications on the WSR-88D. CODE will provide support, in some degree, for all phases of the of WSR-88D application life cycle, from the early stages of the exploration of ideas and prototyping of algorithms through the stages of formal development, validation, and integration into the operational system.

This report details the ongoing work associated with the engineering and development of CODE and its implications for the development and integration of new algorithms for the Open Systems Radar Product Generation (ORPG) computer of the WSR-88D. The major components of this environment are a new application programming interface (API), guidance and documentation of the programming services provided, and utilities/tools which would be used during production development, integration, and testing of WSR-88D algorithms. In addition, the concept of a NEXRAD Visual Programming Tool (VPT) will be introduced.